Slender Bridge

by Katrina Clemons

  “You know I’m trying to get drafted.”

  “You and everyone else on the team,” he reminded me, “but let’s have some fun tonight.” He smiled.

  As soon as I saw him smile, I could sense the trouble. Aaron and I have been best friends since I got into the team. When we had to go through the training, we just stuck together. We knew, as two freshmen, that we would get the worst of all the treatment, and we did, but we stuck it out. He got me through it with his jokes and going to parties to take our mind off of it. At the parties, he was such a ladies man and always leaving with one or two females.

  With him, it would all start normally. We would be having fun, drinking, and the next thing we knew a fight broke out. Or he would try to sneak us into a club and we’d get in trouble. Every single time something crazy happened with him, it all started with the damn smile.

  “What is it now?” I sighed.

  “Why do you make it sound like such bad news?” He laughed. “Aren’t we brothers?”

  “We may look alike, but we aren’t brothers.” I pointed out how we were both 6’4, brown skin, with low cut hair.

  “And as your brother, I will never get you in trouble.”

  “What about that time when we tried to get into the club?”

  “That bouncer was the one acting crazy. If he didn’t push me, I would have never punched him.”

  “And what about that time at the restaurant?”

  “That bitch wanted to card me. How is she going tell me that I’m not 21?”

  “But you’re not.” I reminded him.

  “She didn’t know that.”

  “That is why she carded you. Look, we might be tall but we still got baby faces. Besides, you didn’t need a drink there anyway, you always have a case of beer stashed somewhere.”

  “That’s not the point and anyway, I’m getting off track. I have an exclusive invite to a house party where I am told that the best and most beautiful Georgia peaches are going to be there.”

  It’s like Aaron is addicted to woman. Every time I turned around, he was always off with another female. Some of the reasons he was never in class was because he was always with one of them. Occasionally he would have me lie to one while he was off with another. He was taking full advantage of the fact that women loved athletes.

  I, on the other hand, had bigger things on my mind. When I left New York to come down here, I had a mission. I was only going to stay here to get drafted and then take all the money in the world. I had a lot of expectations to live up to, and a family back home that was relying on me. I can’t get in trouble and ruin all of that over some “innocent” fun with Aaron.

  “I don’t know man.” I shrugged. “I’m trying to-”

  “Before you give me your long speech, let me tell you that it is a pool party.” His eyes grew just as wide as his smile. “And you know that means bikinis.”

  “I know what it means, but I’m not looking to get into trouble.”

  “Understandable, but you know you want to see these nice, beautiful, gorgeous women lounging by a pool. I know you want to see that.” I stopped dribbling and looked over at him. “Come on Benjamin, I know you do.” He was giving me that devilish smile again.

  “Fuck it, let’s go.”

  The pool party was gorgeous. Coming from the streets of Brooklyn, New York, I’ve never seen anything like this. The house was huge. It looked like something that you would see on a reality show. Aaron wasn’t lying when he said that there were beautiful women, they were nearly everywhere. The second we got out of the car, there was nothing but beauties everywhere.

  “Tell me where they are shooting the hip hop music video.” I joked poking Aaron with my elbow. “I feel like we in a rapper’s video for real.”

  “They don’t have women like this back in Brooklyn?’ He asked as he waved at the ladies that were looking at us.

  “They do, but all of them are not built like this. I swear ATL stands for ass, titties, and legs.” We laughed. “I know this is your hometown, so it must mean nothing to you.”

  “Beautiful women will never mean nothing to me.” He chuckled.

  As per usual, once the word got around that two of the basketball players from the local university was there, we started to get attention. A tall, leggy, long haired, brown skinned vixen came our way. Before she even got to us, I was already dazzled by her smile. Her hips swayed right to left and I swear she was trying to hypnotize us.

  “Hello there.” She greeted us. I went to shake her hand and she pushed it away. “I don’t shake hands, I hug.” She hugged me and the smell of roses came over me. She hugged Aaron and I could see him size her up with his eyes. “I just wanted to welcome you guys to my party.”

  “No problem,” he told her.

  “I’m glad you guys could come out. I was afraid that you wouldn’t make it out here.”

  “You invited us right.” Again Aaron was doing all the talking.

  “But I thought you would have ignored the invite, considering I sent it through Instagram. I bet you guys get a lot of invites.”

  “We sure do.”

  “So you must go to a lot of parties.”

  “Nope.” He lied. “I only go to the ones that are interesting.”

  “Does something here interest you?” She bit her lip.

  “Oh yeah.” He told her and that trouble-making smile popped back up.

  I shook my head and left them to flirt with each other. I could already see where this was going. Somehow, some way, Aaron was going to get her all by herself and sleep with her. Just another day for him.

  I made my way to a table that I saw across from the large rectangular pool. The table was filled with food and drinks. I was expecting chips and soda, but when I saw that it was a catered event, I was blown away.

  “Ugh, look at her.” A short brunette mumbled to her slightly taller Latina friend. “Like I go to the gym everyday so that I wouldn’t look like that.” She chuckled and her friend joined along.

  “I know what you’re saying. Why would you come to this party knowing it was a pool party? If I was ever that big, I would just stay home. I wouldn’t even leave the house.” They both laughed some more. I turned to see who they were talking about.

  Across the pool was this curvy, full figured, mahogany brown skinned woman. She walked in wearing a tight blue bathing suit, shades, high heeled sandals, and a black hat. She breezed past us and the girls looked at her with disgust.

  “Look at that gut.” The Latina laughed. “It’s jiggling as much as her thighs.”

  “What about her butt?” They burst out laughing. I was about to tell them to lower it when the girl turned around and walked right back.

  “Hi!” She introduced herself. The girls were quiet but exchanging glances. “I just thought that I would come over say something seeing how you guys have so much to say when I was walking by. It’s funny how you’re silent now, though.” She smiled and continued. Her tone was very sarcastic and she crossed her arms.

  “Well my name is Simone and I can tell by your silence that you think because I’m plump that I’m not fabulous.” She stepped closer to them. “Don’t get it twisted. You’re thinner than me but definitely not prettier than me.” She pushed her shades in further and smiled.

  I held my laugh and watched her walk away. The pool party suddenly got a lot more interesting.

  Chapter 2

  “Isn’t this the greatest party ever?” Aaron came up to me out of nowhere. I haven’t seen him for the past hour. Ever since that long leg beauty came his way, it was like he vanished. I didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to guess what happened. He had that goofy grin on his face. When I looked behind him, I saw the girl that he was with. She was brushing her hair and fixing her outfit. Like I said, there is no need to be an Ivy League graduate to figure out what happened.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty cool,” I said casually.

  I was still staring at the vibrant and extremely curvy woman that was
lounging by the pool. She was taking selfies and looking beautiful while she did it. I don’t know why I was looking at her, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.

  “Hey!” Aaron snapped his fingers in my face. “Where are you? I’m talking to you and you’re not even looking at me.” He brought me out of my trance. “Who are you looking at?” He followed my eyes. “Oh you like em thick, huh?” He hit me on the back. “She got you quiet.” He teased. “So why don’t you go over there and say something?”

  I thought about it, but I couldn’t move for some reason, which is weird because I never had problem with females. I guess it comes with the territory of being an athlete. It didn’t matter what sport it was, females were attracted to you. I have had girls come up to me out of nowhere from high school. As soon as I started playing in high school all I got was attention. So I guess I never had problems talking to girls, but I just couldn’t move when it came to her.

  “I can’t go over there.” I shrugged it off. “Did you forget what I came to college to do?”

  “How can I forget that? You are always telling me why you are here! You’re here to get drafted into the NBA. You are going to provide for your whole family and help them out. You are going to be the next big thing. Trust me, I know what you’re going to do and why you are here. But damn man, does that mean you are going for the priesthood?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean? Are you really not going to mess with any girls while you out here?”

  “Don’t you know that females are a huge distraction?”

  “Oh God...” He groaned, “Enough is enough. I’m not going to let this happen.”

  “What?”

  He started to make his way towards her, but I grabbed his arm.

  “I don’t want you going over there and talking to her. Who knows what you’re going to tell her?”

  “At least it will get you talking to her.” He was trying to move but I had a grip.

  “I got this.”

  “Oh, now you got this?” I heard him laugh as I made my way to the woman.

  “Hey.” I sat next to her as she was still soaking up the sun. Now that I was closer to her, I could see how beautiful she really was. Her face was gorgeous. She had on eyeliner, eyelashes, and red lipstick.

  “Good day.” She smiled. “How can I help you?”

  “You are so beautiful,” I blurted out but quickly recovered. “You really are.”

  “And that’s how I can help you?” She questioned laughing.

  “I’m just stating the obvious.” I sat up.

  “Ooh, nice smooth lines.” She sat up and grinned at me. “Where are you from?”

  “You hear my accent?”

  “Well, it’s kind of hard to miss.”

  “I’m from Brooklyn, New York.”

  “Oh, do you know Jay Z?”

  “No. Do you know Usher?” I smiled.

  “OK, I see what you’re saying.” She giggled, “Simone.” She extended out her hand to me.

  “Benjamin, but everyone calls me B-Wood.”

  “Well, I’m not everyone. I’m gonna call you Ben.”

  We spent the entire time talking. I found out that she was a blogger. She wrote articles on beauty, fashion, hair, and parties. She had such dreams and ambitions. It was kind of nice to meet someone my age who had big dreams and goals like I did.

  I was now walking her to her dorm. The party was long over. I don’t know where Aaron went, but I know wherever he was, he wasn’t alone.

  She asked, “So you want to get drafted?”

  “No, I’m going to get drafted.” I corrected. “All I have to do is be the best player, and that’s it.”

  “Oh, is that it?” She laughed. “Just be the best player and they’ll draft you.”

  “That’s pretty much it.”

  “I think that there’s more to it than that.” she pointed out.

  “What would you know about sports?”

  “I don’t know much, but I do know things aren’t the same anymore. You have to be more than just the best player. And what about your team?”

  “What about them?”

  “What’s the point of being the best player on a losing team?”

  “Hmm, I guess you know it all?”

  “No, I don’t, but this is where I stop.”

  We were now in front of her dorm. People were walking in because curfew was coming up soon. The breeze picked up her scent and it overtook me. I grabbed her close and kissed her. Her lips were soft. She wrapped her arms around my neck. My hands slid down her back and squeezed when I got to her ass.

  “Okay!” She jumped up giggling, “We are getting a bit carried away.” She smiled.

  “I couldn’t help it.” Her eyes were so brown that I couldn’t stop staring at them.

  “Well, I guess that’s to be understood.” She started walking away, but I was still holding her hand. “Do you ever plan on letting me go?” She asked with a wicked look in her eyes.

  “I am, but when am I going to hear from you again?”

  “Is this your way of asking for my number?”

  “No, this is my way of giving you the chance to offers yours to me.” I handed her my phone. She shook her head with a smile.

  “You and those smooth lines.” She put her number in and then returned the phone back to me. “You better use my number.”

  “I plan to.”

  Basketball practice was a trial the next day. The Coach, Michael Jones, had us running up and down the court while dribbling. The game was only two days away and we were trying to get off our two game losing streak. It wasn’t that we were losing that made our couch mad, but it was how we were losing that was pissing him off. We would be leading in the first half of the game and then out of nowhere, we would be losing. We couldn’t keep up our stamina, so he had us doing marathon runs.

  “Pick those legs up!” He screamed at us. My chest felt like it was going to cave in, but I kept up with my breathing. “You rookies better keep up! The seniors are killing you and they are older than you. You’re suppose to be lapping them and you’re barely keeping up!

  “B-Wood!” he pointed me out. “You want to stay on the starting five? You better earn your keep.” He was shouting. Hearing him single me out had me bringing my knees to my chest.

  After practice, the Coach made us all sit down on the bleachers. We all looked like we were about to die, but he made us sit there and listen to him.

  “Listen, I know that you are tired but this will all pay off. This team needs to work on their endurance. We are losing these games because you guys are too tired. If you can’t play in the game, there is no shame in telling me to sit it out.” He looked at me. “B-Wood, I’m talking to you. I need you to know that this is a team sport.”

  “I know Coach.” I sighed. “I just get in the zone.”

  “There’s no excuse. You’re lucky to be a freshman that’s not warming the bench. Don’t make me regret the decision. Okay you guys, practice is over.”

  I dragged myself out of the locker room after a quick shower and change. My body felt like collapsing but the Coach’s words kept pushing me through. I had to be my best in the game and I had to help my team win.

  “Whoah, there.” Simone’s sweet voice came out of nowhere. “Had I known that you look like you would fall apart I would have never gave you my number.” I turned around and saw her in a hip hugging jumpsuit. She paired it off with gold high heels and a black purse. “You tell me to meet you after practice, I would think that you’d be in better shape than that.” She reached out and gave me a hug. “How are you?” She asked. I squeezed her tightly and smelled her sweet scent.

  “I’m good.”

  “You look like the practice wore you out.” She pointed out. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m good.” I lied. “Let’s go.”

  We went out to lunch. I took her to this restaurant that wasn’t so far from campus. It was just this pizza place, but it was nic
e to be out with her.

  “So, why basketball? Why not football?” She asked.

  “Wow!” I was shocked.

  “What is it?”

  “You’re the first girl to ask me about basketball.”

  “No, that can’t be true. Basketball players get girls all the time.”

  “I never said that I don’t get girls but I’ve never had one ask about basketball.”

  “You might have been talking to the wrong ones.” She smiled.

  “I might have.”

  The pizza got there and we just laughed the whole time. What was cool about hanging out with Simone is that it felt like that I was hanging out with a friend.

  “I can’t wait for the game.”

  “Oh really? Is it the cheerleaders in their short skirts?”

  “I’m not interested in that,” I told her truthfully. “Once you see one, you’ve seen them all.”

  “The question is, have you been with them all?” She gave me the side eye.

  “I’ve been with a couple but not a lot.”

  “What happened?”

  I sighed and then started the story.

  Chapter 3

  This was a while back when I first got to this university. It was after the first game I got in. I was riding the bench for the first three games of the season. I didn’t think I would be in any games. The Coach back then was only playing players that he knew. He had the power forward playing and the team’s score was down. It didn’t matter what happened, for some reason, we couldn’t catch up.

  I was so antsy to play because it was like I could feel it in my bones, that I was needed to be out there. Just watching them go up and down the court, my feet were tapping so much that I could have had a hole on the ground.

  “Benjamin!” The Coach screamed my name and I jumped up. “What do you think?” He pulled me close. “Look at this game. You want to get in there?”

  “Yes, sir,” I nodded my head.

  “Okay, get in there and prove your scholarship,” he swapped me in and the guy that he replaced me with went to the bench.

  “Get the ball to Benjamin!” he screamed.

  As soon as I got in the game, I got my hands on the basketball. I crossed the players and made my way to the hoop. When I made the first shot in, our fans, who were restless, were suddenly clapping. It was when I sunk the fourth three pointer in a row, that the crowd started going crazy. Back then, they didn’t know my name so they kept screaming out my number.